Plane crash in Parmer County kills two
Jake Hefner, 24 of Bovina and Clayton Sides, 25 of Dimmitt, were killed Sunday when the Experimental Challenger II push-propeller plane they were piloting crashed in a field 8 miles west of Friona. The two men started the flight from a private airstrip near Mr. Hefner’s home around 8 p.m. and were last seen around 8:45 p.m. about a mile or two north of the runway. When they failed to return to the landing area, relatives became worried and started a search.
Around 10:43 p.m. a 911 call was placed by the family and received by the Parmer County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff Randy Geries assembled the Bovina Fire Department, Bovina Police, Friona Fire Department, Bovina EMS, and the Sheriff’s Department for a search and rescue mission. He also asked the Department of Public Safety (DPS) to send a helicopter to aid in the search since the terrain around a possible landing site was difficult for vehicles to navigate.
The Frio Draw is located just north of the Hefner residence and access by county roads is limited. The search continued until about 1 a.m. when the DPS helicopter from Amarillo, using thermal imaging, located the wreckage about 500 yards northwest of the Hefner home. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene and investigators believe the crash occurred around 9 p.m. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are currently investigating the crash.
